Bowling pin



Jan. 17, 1961 R. P. ALER BOWLING PIN Filed No. 19, 1958 Fig. 3

United States Patent O BOWLING PIN Richard P. Aler, 1605 Chilton St.,Baltimore, Md.

Filed Nov. 19, 1958, Ser. No. 774,957

I Claims. (Cl. 273-82) This invention relates in general to new anduseful improvements in sports equipment, and more particularly to animproved bowling pin.

At the present time one of the major items of expense to operate abowling establishment is the cost of the pins. Inasmuch as the pins arestruck by bowlin-g balls which are travelling at a high rate of speedand since the striking area between the bowling ball and the pin isrelatively small, each time a pin is struck by a bowling ball, it isdamaged to some extent. Furthermore, the bowling pins fly when struck bythe bowling balls and strike each other or components in the alley pit.This results in further damage to the bowling pins. In many instancesthe force of the bowling ball hitting a bowling pin is sufficient thatthe ball will sufliciently damage a new pin to a point that it isworthless. lOn the other hand, while many bowling pins do take repeatedhammering by the bowling balls, after the pins become slightly out ofshape or have splinters projecting therefrom, when the pins go throughthe automatic pin Setters, these damaged pins oftentimes jam the pinsetting machine and cause stoppage thereof. This, of course, results inthe loss of revenue and the attention of a mechanic.

Numerous attempts have been made to provide` a bowling pin which willwithstand the shock of the irnpaot of a bowling ball thereon. While itis possible to sufficiently reinforce a bowling pin whereby it willstand the shock of the impact of the bowling ball thereon, the bowlingpin does not react in the same manner as the conventional maple bowlingpin.

Inasmuch as the bowler desires both the usual sound of bowling ballsstriking the maple pin and also the action obtainable with the maplepin, these reinforced bowling pins have proved to ybe unsuccessful.Also, much experimentation has been made in the line of coating thewooden core with a thin layer of hard plastic material. However, whilethis has increased the -life of the bowling pin and such a pin is beingused in the trade, the extra cost of the bowling pin is not particularlyoffset by the extra life thereof. Also, bowling pins are at the presenttime being reclaimed by turning down the ball striking area thereof andreinforcing it so that the damaged bowling pin may be used over for sometime. On the other hand, these innovations do not solve the existingproblem.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide' animproved bowling pin, vwhich bowling pin reacts the same as theconventional maple bowling pin and at the same time is so constructedwhereby it is resistant -to the impact of a bowling ball thereon.

Another object of this invention is -to provide a composite bowling pin,the composite bowling pin including an outer hard shell which is shockresistant and which is mounted with respect to a solid core by means ofa resilient layer so that not only does the outer shell of the bowlingpin take the initial shock and prevent it from being damaged by theimpact of the bowling ball due to its hardness, but also due toresilient mounting ICC thereof there is a lloating action between theshell and the core so as to stress relieve the area of the shell struckby the ball.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved compositebowling pin, which bowling pin will have the same action as the existingmaple wood bowling pin when struck by a ball, and at the same time ishighly resistant to shock whereby the life thereof is very great 'ascompared to existing bowling pins.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved bowling pinwhich includes a rigid core, which core may be formed of wood, plasticor of a composite material, there being provided for the core aresilient layer which is formed of rubber, neoprene, or the like, andthere being an outer shell, which outer shell is formed of a very hardmaterial, preferably one of fiber composition, which material isresistant to `the impact of a bowling ball and which is iloatinglymounted with respect to the 4core by the resilient layer so that damageto the shell under normal operating conditions is prevented.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational View of the bowling pin which is the subjectof this invention, a portion of the bowling pin being broken away andshown in section in order to clearly illustrate the details of theconstruction thereof;

Figure 2 is Ian enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by section line 2-2 of Figure 1 and shows theconstruction of the bowling pin; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Figure 2 and shows thedetails of a slightly modied form of bowling pin construction.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there isillustrated the bowling pin which is the subject of this invention, thebowling pin being referred to in general by the reference numeral 10.The bowling pin 1t) will have the same final external configuration asexistent bowling pins and will be of ap# proximately the same weight.The bowling pin 10 inf cludes a solid core 12 which may be formed ofwood, molded sawdust, wood chips, composition board, etc., or a suitableplastic. Disposed about the core 12 is a resilient layer 14 which isformed of a resilient rubber-f like material such ias latex or neoprene.The resilient layer 14 may be placed on the core 12 by any one ofseveral methods including molding, spraying and `dip coating. g

Surrounding the resilient layer 14 is a. shell whichl is referred to ingeneral by the reference numeral'l. The shell 16 is formed of twoidentical halves 18 and 20 which are joined together with an overlappingjoint 22 between each edge of the shell halves 18 and 20, the joint 22being disposed in diametrically opposite relation. A suitable adhesivewill be used to secure the halves 18 `and 20 together whereby the shell16 has no weakness at its joints. A

It is necessary that the shell 16 be extremely rigid and at the sametime resistant to shock. For that reason, it is proposed that the shell16 be formed of a fiber material. A material such #as a laminatedphenolic plastic that is applied under heat and pressure is suitable forthis purpose. The adhesive used in securing together the halves of theshell 16 will be in the form of a strong phenolic adhesive or otherplastic adhesive.

Disposed over the shells 16 is a thin coat of white plastic paint 24 soas to give the bowling pin 10 the normal white coat. Overlying the coatof plastic paint 24 fis a 4thin coat of plastic 26, lsuch as a ,thincoating of vinyl plastic.

The bowling pin is concluded by a pin setting plug 28 which js seated ina recess 30 which is formed at the time .the core 12 is turned ormolded. The pin setting plug 28 will also be formed of a suitableplastic material.

The Vshell 16, being vformed of a hard impact resistant material, is notsubject to damage by the normal impact placed thereagainst upon thestriking thereof by a bowling pin. Furthermore, inasmuch as the shell 16is resiliently mounted with respect to the core 12 by means of theresilient layer 14, extra high stresses at one point on .the Yshell 216are eliminated inasmuch as the shell 1 6 may shift slightly with respectto the core 12 due to the resiliency of the resilient layer 14. Thus,the exposed surface of .thebowling pin .10 is not subject to the normalbreakage which occurred in existing bowling pins. On the other fhand,.the particular construction of the bowling pin 10 is such that whenstruck by the bowling ball, it will make the same sound as that of thecustomary maple bowling pins and will have the same action as the maplebowling pins. If anything, the bowlingpin 10V will beslightly livelierthan the maple bowling pin.

V.Referring now to Figure 3 in particular, it will be seen that there isillustrated a modified form of bowling pin which is referred to ingeneral by the reference numeral 32. Thebowling pin 32 includes a solidcore 34 which is very similar to the core 12, but is slightly smallerthan the core 12. Surrounding the core 34 is an inner resilient layer 36which corresponds to the resilient layer 14. Surrounding theresilientlayer 36 is a shell 38 which is formed of identical halves 40 and whichcorresponds to the shell .16.

.The bowling pin 32 differs from the bowling pin 10 in that surroundingthe shell 38 is a. second resilient layer 42 which is of the sameconstruction as the resilient layer 36. Further, surrounding theresilient layer 42 is au outer shell 44 which isformed of identicalvhalves 46. It s to be noted that thehalves 46 have theirjoints disposedapproximately 90 from the joints between .the halves 40. The outer shell44 has a layer of paint 48 thereovcr, the paint layer 48 correspondingto the paint layer v24. The .bowling pin 32 is iinished by a plasticouter layer, -the plastic layer being referred to by the referencenumeral 50 corresponding to the plastic layer 26.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that the howling pin 32differs from the bowling pin 10 only in that .it .is provided with vanextra resilient layer and extra shell. It v.is also to he understoodthat it is within the province fof this invention to provide as manyresilient layersandas many shells as is desired.

lFrom the foregoing description of the bowling pin, which vis thesubject of this invention, it will be seen thatthe cost thereof isslightly greater than the natural maple bowling pin, but not greatly inexcess. On the other hand, because the bowling pin is resistant to theshock and does lnot shatter or splinter las in the case of existingbowling pins, it will be readily apparent that the life `of the bowlingpin, which is the subject of this invention, is greatly in -excess ofthat of existing bowling pins. Thus, the added life of the .bowling pinof this Vinvention could 'be oset through the minor increase in costthereof and the bowling pin will satisfy the long sought afterrequirements of the composition bowling pin.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changeswillreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired tolimit the invention to the exact construction and .operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A bowling pin comprising a core including an elongated main bodyhaving a base portion at one end, a neck portion at the other end, andan intermediate body portion of circular cross-sectional area forreceiving impact from a bowling ball, a layer of resilient ymaterialcompletely enclosing and engaging said core and a shell of rigid plasticmaterial completely enclosing and engaging said layer of resilientmaterial, said resilient material and rigid shell .cushioning impactreceived by the shell and distributing the forces produced by impactreceived on .the shell 4throughout the area of the shell and resilientmaterial thereby eliminating force concentration at any one point on thepin and eliminating damage to the pin caused by such concentration.

`2. The bowling pin of claim 1 together with a thin plastic coatingenclosing said shell.

3. The bowling pin of claim 1 wherein said rigid shell is constructedfrom thermosetting plastic material.

4. The bowling pin of claim 1 wherein said shell includes identicalhalves, the edges of said halves being rigidly secured together by anoverlapped joint, said joint lying in a vertical plane disposedlongitudinally and passing through the longitudinal center of the core.

5. A bowling pin .comprising a core including a main body having a baseat one end, a neck at the other end and .an intermediate ball contactingbelly portion, a resilient layer completely enclosing and engaging saidcore throughout the extended surface area thereof, said layer being ofequal thickness throughout, anda rigid shell completely enclosing andengaging said resilient layer throughout its external surface, saidshell being of equal lthickness throughout, said l.shell beingconstructed -of rigid impact resistant material whereby the resilientlayer will distribute the stresses produced when a ball strikes thebellyportion of the body throughout the pin thereby cushioning thelimpact and preventing damage to the pin by such impact.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 846,164Teetor Mar. v5, 1907 1,146,509 Obenhack July 13, 1915 1,702,556 WilhemFeb. '19, 1929 2,166,950 German et al. July 25, 1939 2,199,310 HartleyApr. 30, 1940 2,202,674 Seaman et al. May 28, 1940 2,357,458 CloughSept. 5, `1944 2,494,351 Montero a Jan. 10, 1950 2,809,038 Scheidemantelet al. Oct. 8, 1957 2,876,011 Hunt Man 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,081,046France June 2, 1954

